Friday, August 14, 2009

This commentary is not personal against Abraha Belay the editor of ethiomedia.com. My commentary is against his coverage of news on his media that he deliberately, many times, created a media epilepsy ignoring the suffering of the Ethiopian people, particularly the ethnic cleansing of the 12,000 deported Amhara society from the Southern Ethiopia reported last week by few medias (which the deportation occurred in the month Hamle) blanked out from his media while he is dedicated covering news of some anti Amhara extremists like that of the OLF, ONLF propaganda audio-video. Though, it focusing on him my critique is meant also the to many of the failed opposition media who currently are engaged in promoting few circles of the mediocre intelligentsia image while ignoring the image of the suffering population on their media.
As it is know to some of you, ever since his split from his ethnocentric circle at Deki Alula online (remember few of the editors of Deki Alula “Abraha Belay, Walta and some few editors” disguised on a female names as “Maaza Alula” and “Azeb Alula” (?), one accusing the other for hijacking the website over who should serve better to the former TPLF officials, not in the best interest of the people of Ethiopia,- the fellow still is an ardent defendant of these political criminals awfully irritated and dismayed so many of us. The so called DISSIDENTS HAVE SO FAR BEEN ABLE TO AVOID CONFRONTING FOR ALL KINDS OF HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS, TREASON THAT STARTED FROM THEIR TIME IN THE FOREST AND INCLUDING THE AWFUL POWER ABUSE AND ETHNIC CLEANSING POLICY THEY FRAMED AND PRACTICED FROM 1991- TO 2001 was widely protected from being exposed on his popular media.
This passed week, I emailed Abraha Belay (the editor of Ethiomedia.com) who claimed he has the undying love for the former TPLF officials and the Tigray people to visit Ethiopatriots.com where audio news of 12,000 Amhara peasants deported by force from the Southern Ethiopia (Gamogofa) posted where originally broad casted from the German radio Amharic program. The editor visited the said website, and instead of posting copying the audio news and spread the news to the world on behalf of the victims as I pleaded him to post this freshly news on his website, he unfortunately, came with a response to react about my commentary posted there regarding Dr.Yacob’s “flip-flop position of the Ethio-Eritrean border issue and the TPLF’s press Yacob defended it publicly as you recall his interview in Addis Ababa. Sadly and unfortunately Abraha Belay as shallow as he is, he irrationally reacted to the commentary written by the website editor as if it was commented by me. Mind you, my reference and plea to him to visit the said website was not to tell me what he thinks about mediocre individual Yacob. The purpose of it me referring him to Ethuiopatriots.com and Ethiolion.com was as I stated it above to listen the audio posted and the interview of the 12,000 Amhara deportee from the South which just occurred a week or two weeks a go at the end month of “Hamile” (July), in the hope he might have a soft heart as he has the undying love to his ethnic Tigray people. Sadly, instead, he preferred to engage with me via email worried so much about his mediocre elite individual of his own circle’s pride. It is awful!

Among all those “opposition” media only two patriot Ethiopian website owners “www.Ethiopatriots.com” and “www.ethiolion.com”posted the news on their media for the world to hear how the Amhara society is the constant victim of an ethnic cleansing in Ethiopia under the apartheid divide and rule-government's policy of TPLF for the last 18 years, constantly, until this fresh wave of the last week’s deportation of 12,000 Amhara from the Southern Ethiopia. May god of Ethiopia bless the two of you patriots that became a good example of what a good journalism is all about who executed a satisfactorily media responsibility on such most important news of human sufferings of the nation. Please visit http://www.ethiopatriots.com/ under the title Ethnic cleansing by Zenawi's militia against defenseless Amharic speaking people. ( horrific audio report from DW) and also visit http://www.ethiolion.com/ on the right side of the Amharic section under the title “የአማራው ሕዝብ ሰቆቃ ፤ የቡርቃ ዝምታ ስኬታማ ተልዕኮ” both are audio report.

When I think over it, -it is almost impossible for me to believe such fellow might willingly ignore the news to cover on his website of the fresh wave of 12,000 Amhara society deportation from their native country and land with their children, pregnant women, elders dying suffering sheltered on a chilly school with no food and water in the capital city of the nation after learning it and hearing the news in his own ears from a source that is reliable. It was equally also shocking for me to believe some Ethiopian commentators will come in massive to write commentaries, and news in reaction to an individual racist website editor who called the Obama Administration “N Administration”, while willingly ignored not to comment regarding the Ethiopian racist system and racist Liberation Fronts who are engaged in the ethnic cleansing of the Amhara society in mass!
What went wrong? Media bias is expected in a country where political party leaders are engaged in power hunger and power struggle. Sure, it is almost impossible for any network or journalistic publication not to be accused of some media bias. But, only is acceptable if the bias is on political views only. I am not talking here why the opposition media failed to post some political group or leaders’ viewpoint on their website failed to post or why the Ethiopian educated sectors failed to comment/deal on specific view point. I am talking about the exclusion of the fresh ethnic cleansing of the Amhara society happening as we speak! How is that Obama’s pride greatest concern to the Ethiopia intelligentsia commentators and website editors to come with dozens of articles of reaction, but can’t offered a single article or line or a phrase of news on their websites/commentaries, while the news of the mass deportation and ethnic cleansing news coming out from Ethiopia are aware of?
Do those website editors, such as Abraha Belay willingly and knowingly commit a bias AGAINST such news from posting it to the world? Yes! No question. Not only he committed a mistake, but also committed a conscious bias by failing to include the honest service of journalism represented in the profession of journalism. Failure to represent news that is already known and reported to him (to the editor) is indeed media bias. Ignorance at its worst!
Abraha Belay is been quite blatant in his serving a small circle of petty berg intelligentsia for a while now. His media now only criticized for being a stooge and a tool to destructive groups and bogus politicians, but also criticized for allowing anti Amhara racist ads in his media. What this means is- he knowingly and willingly for some reason unknown to some of us allowed an ad that degraded Amhara women. The re was an article specifically dealt to this problem about Ethiomedia why he allowed an ad that says “Date Amhara Women”. I would mind if it says “Date Ethiopian Women”, but the ad was mainly pointing out to the Amhara women in a degrading manner. Is this man allowing such degrading ads of the Amhara society for money or for educational purposes? No one, but only him and his other editors around him knows the answer why they want to portrait the Amhara women as commodities.
Coverage of the latest ethnic cleansing is not an option, it is a responsible, and a must reported to the world if a media is calling itself opposition media outlet. The ethnic cleansing in Rwanda was ignored and covered up by major news outlets purposely to suppress it in order the population of Rwanda to slaughter each other as irrational animal. There are groups, countries, elements that want to see the African people eradicated, poor, sick and weakening. There are puppets, mercenaries who like to serve the masters of such crime perpetrators taking advantage the media they own by accident and fortune. This is a new madness that is now coming to Ethiopia currently haunting our population. And yet, some opposition media like that of Abraha Belay’s Ethiomedia, Ethioforum.com, Abugida.org Abay Media and some few of their likes are busy engaging in the business of shaping the image of political criminals to give them a human face.
If the opposition media doesn’t broadcast the suffering of their people they claim they represent or defend, who will? The government, the OLF, the ONLF who are the causes and perpetrators of the ethnic cleansing? It is obviously clear that the opposition media is a failed media operated by mentally corrupted individuals, who have no idea how to exploit news to challenge the repressive system they claim to oppose. We have few handful clicks who claim from petty bourgeoisie intelligentsia circle that comes with weekly article/commentary, overloaded articles in defense of one individual leader or individual artist who is incarcerated by the regime, while ignoring or dealt slightly on their commentaries in regard to the suffering of the people at large. What we are witnessing is a corrupt intelligentsia sector that is running around doggish like a chicken its head cut off in search of popularity after sleeping for years in comfort or coming out fresh few years from serving the repressive system. Sadly, we have some shameless opposition leaders like that of G7 who are trying to colonize the brain of the lost Diaspora community all over the glob by cleverly unplugging the oxygen of unity that was made by the restless effort of the patriotic leaders of EPRP and its members and other zealous Ethiopian patriot individuals.
The failed opposition media owned by individuals is not largely to be blamed. What it might amaze you is how hopeless and so poorly the so called Ethiopian Journalist Association is organized. This last/past week somebody forwarded email to me that plea for financial support to a member of the media who is suffering by kidney frailer living in exile Yemen Sana’a. His name is Tamrat Serbessa. Though, it is not my first time to support financially or emotionally to those our brother journalists in Yemen, as I saw the email- I was taken by it. My heart just palpitated, so sad and angry at TPLF. I promised to help the brother in Yemen. I talk to a friend who lives in San Jose, if he can share with me to send this brother some money. He agreed with me and we have an appointment to meet for the coming Saturday on how to send the money. I tried to contact some more people that I saw their names forwarded to me in the email. None replied/react.

I tried to contact Ethimediaforum.Org editors Ato Kinfu Asefa and Ato Dawit Kebede, Abraha Belay and Ato Kifle Mulat to guide me how I can safely send the money to Yemen. None of them responded or even react to my email. They simply ignored it! I will present you the sample of the email I wrote to them so that you will judge how the Ethiopian Journalist Association in the Diaspora is poorly organized.

The following two sample emails posted under are among the dozen of emails from the ill Journalist seeking help guiding me to contact Dawit Kebede’s and Kinfu’s and Kifle Mulat’s and other journalist members email how to safely transfer the money I am willing to send him.
Before that read my email send to Ethioforum.org editor. And Ato Dawit kebede and Ato Abraha Belay of Ethiomedia. None of them react to my email regardless I appealed to them pushing aside our differences and cooperate on issue of such as this one.-----Original Message-----From: getachre@aol.comTo: serbessabiru@hotmail.com; media.emf@gmail.comtamirugeda@yahoo.com; aklilu35@yahoo.com; editor@ethiomedia.com; Ethiolion@ethiolion.com; ethiopatriots@gmail.comSent: Mon, Aug 10, 2009 11:05 am Subject: Re: e_mail address

Selam Ato Kinfu;(Ethioforum.org)Though, I know we have a rough communication between you and due to some misunderstandings among each other due to the politics of the time. Regardless, we have a common issue that makes us talk. One of the issues is the following. If you recall few years back, I pledge some money to the Ethiopian journalists in Yemen through the association. This time the Journalist Association Ato Kifle Mulat seems to be found no where though I repeatedly contacted him through his given email to me to ask him how we can help his members in Yemen. Any way, some one from them a former president of the association contacted me to contact Dawit Kebede or you how I can give you the money Tamrat Serbessa is asking (he is sick and suffering from Kidney problem). Can you provide me Dawit kebede or some one responsible to contact, so that I can send him money? It is sad the Journalist Association is mediocre. I have to prepare a commentary about this issue to the public how lazy the media opposition association is disorganized. The Musician Association is much organized than the Kifle lead organization to my understanding. Any way, please contact me. Getachre@AOL.com Getachew Reda http://www.ethiopiansemay.blogspot.com/
Please read the following; also from the Ethiopian journalist seeking our help crying in the name of god for help.

“-----Dearest Getachew my heartiest greetings.endat newa yn Dawit means new information hule? I will wait. My brother, one of kindly man.Sorry, an Ethiopian journalist.God bless you and all your family.Tamerat serbessa” (Highlited with color added mine). And the other email reads this way.

Dearest Dawit and Kinfu greetings.please Dawit and Kinfu now again big problem please contact our brother Getachew is help me one Ethiopia journalist reptrnstivecontact please again Dawit and Kinfu contact the name of God Tamerat-Yemen Sanna E-mail addressGetachRe@aol.com

We have also a huge problem that we faced from the nihilists and their media glorifiers who pushed self-hatred politics of self-determination, nation, nationality, on different media and Pal Talks ill-informed citizens caught in the shell of ethnocentrism, It is also sad that Abraha Belay and G7 and the likes are for such propaganda and principle. Gebru Asrat of Arena is now Abraha Belay’s icon. Arena party is nothing but the other side /version of TPLF. As Dr.Hagos Gebre Yesus putted it “Self determination is reduced, logically enough to “nothing else” the right for each and every group to separate itself not only from the “Amhara nation” and the “Tigray nation”, but also from the rest….in one word, not only do they insist that Ethiopia must be broken up into 10 or 100 nations, but that each “PEOPLE” WITHIN EACH OF THESE “nations” must have the “right” to, in effect, further atomize themselves to the last clan or family. Only thus, we are assured,.self determines itself and live happily ever after. …….Put quite simply, this ideology of national self-hatred…is the recipe cooked by the declassed section of the petty –bourgeoisie whose constituent elements are like many chickens running around with their heads cut off.” (Hagos Gebre Yesus- Commentary on the Ideology and Politics of national Nihilism).
Indeed, this virus of self hate is what is causing the current 12,000 Amhara peasants made deported from their own land and country. Anti Amhara is on the rise for the last 18 years- Amhara women are degraded and singled for prostitution on opposition media, the Amhara are the target ever since the racist Tigray Liberation Front seized power in Ethiopia. Separatist students are all over the university and public offices on the rise, Islamic extremist are breeding at a large paste in Ethiopia, burning churches, slaughtering priests and Christians. To our shame the so called opposition media is engaged only promoting the self server petty bourgeoisies intelligentsia. TPLF as we know is determined to escalate the ethnic cleansing conflict since 1991. Its determination to violate the Rights of Ethiopians knows no bounds. Few years back An observer said the”TPLF’s divisive policies have triggered a backlash effect, and ignited a spirit of Ethiopian patriotism and nationalism…which had perhaps not manifested itself with the same intensity since the (Fascist) Italian war…”. I disagree with the gentleman’s statement since I have never seen such intensity either in the opposition owned media or among the people itself. The opposition inside or outside the country is going through fragmented division like an amoeba cell let alone to intensify Ethiopian patriotism among the people. There is one opposition remained a hope for us, and we are hoping to do what is doing currently.
We have a situation of disunity; we have a situation of petty bourgeois intelligentsia taking advantage of the black out media to promote its personal glorification. We have a situation at hand going on ethnic cleansing in mass!!!!None what so vever showed pan Ethiopianism cry in the country. What went wrong? In 1992 submitted a report from the Ethiopian Human Rights Council (RCHO (III Report, July 16,1992) received report from the Christian Association of Tich, Sude, Ameya, and Seru Weredas (Arsi Province) in Kulu,Derreba and Diksis towns the Christian population has been prevented from engaging in trade with the Muslims and from going to the market,- the flour mill of the Amharic speaking and other Christians has been stolen away and the Christians are prevented from using the four mills the Muslims, Christians have been massacred, and many were detained and their property looted.

What about this month? These anti Amhara propaganda not only continue to this day, but, the same type of horrendous deportation that was taking place almost in all OLF and now OPDO occupied territories are repeated. We know from the early reports of Professor Asrat- “in order to create the favorite precondition for massacre and deportation, Amharas have been disarmed by government order. And today the defenseless Amhras in what ever part of Ethiopia they may be living, are being hunted like animals, assembled and slaughtered” (Professor Asrat).

Where is the opposition media? Can the petty bourgeoisie elite and their media explained to us why they excluded the 12,000 Amharic speaking Christian and Islam Ethiopian victims of racism from their commentary, when they dedicated their pen to offer emotional support to Obama administration? Can Abraha Belay of Ethiomedia explain to the public why his undying love for his Tigrayan people failed to ignite his heart to show the undying love he claimed when it comes to the Amahric speaking Ethiopians? Doesn’t such ignorance illustrated what the bible says “A Dog Return to its Vomit”? You the people need to stand up and learn how challenge the handful petty bourgeoisie elite’s circle that is busy glorifying “petty bourgeoisie image” in the mist of the nation’s darkest age. The price of not speaking up for hesitation has been enormous. Enough! Is Enough! We had enough of this mediocre media game of glorifying image elites. The people of Ethiopia are desperate of a real media who can cry and speak for them at this time of their hardest life! Getachew Reda http://www.ethiopiansemay.blogspot.com/